Holy Trinity, Coventry
Holy Trinity would have been the star attraction in any other town or city, it is a majestic cruciform 15th century Perpendicular church with a tapering central tower and spire, the second of Coventry's famous 'Three Spires'. However it has always been overshadowed by larger neighbours, having been encircled by no less than three separate cathedrals through it's history, a unique distinction! Holy Trinity was founded by the monks of the adjoining priory to act as a parish church for it's lay tenants, thus it is ironic that it has long outlived the parent building.
The earliest part is the north porch, which dates from the 13th century, but the majority of the building dates from a more ambitious phase in 15th century Perpendicular style. The 15th century rebuilding has given us the present cruciform arrangement with small transepts and extra chapels on the north side giving an overall roughly rectangular footprint. These chapels were some of many in the church that served the city's separate guilds in medieval times.
The church has gone through much restoration, most notably the rebuilding of it's spire after it was blown down in a storm in 1665. The east end of the chancel was extended in 1786 (in sympathetic style) and much of the exterior was refaced in the early 19th century in then fashionable Bath stone (which clashes with the original red sandstone).
The church luckily escaped major damage during the Coventry Blitz in 1940, largely thanks to the vigilance of Canon Clitheroe and his team of firewatchers who spent a perilous night on the roof tackling incendaries. The main loss was the Victorian stained glass in the east and west windows, which were replaced with much more fetching glass in the postwar restoration.
The most recent restoration involved the uncovering of the 15th century Doom painting over the chancel arch in 2004. Hidden under blackened varnish since it's rediscovery in the early Victorian period, it has now been revealed to be one of the most complete and important medieval Last Judgement murals in the country. There is further painting contemporary with this on the exquisite nave ceiling, painted a beautiful dusty blue with large kneeling angels flanking coats of arms on every rafter.
There are only a handful of monuments and most of the furnishings date from G.G.Scott's 1850s restoration (as does the magnificent vaulted ceiling high above the crossing) but there are some notable medieval survivals in the rare stone pulpit and the brass eagle lectern, both 15th century, along with a fine set of misericords originating from the former Whitefriars monastery church. Just a few fragments of medieval glass survive in the north west chapel.
The church is happily normally open and welcoming to visitors every day.
For more detail on this church see it's entry in the new Warwickshire Churches website below:-
warwickshirechurches.weebly.com/coventry---holy-trinity.html
Holy Trinity, Coventry
Holy Trinity would have been the star attraction in any other town or city, it is a majestic cruciform 15th century Perpendicular church with a tapering central tower and spire, the second of Coventry's famous 'Three Spires'. However it has always been overshadowed by larger neighbours, having been encircled by no less than three separate cathedrals through it's history, a unique distinction! Holy Trinity was founded by the monks of the adjoining priory to act as a parish church for it's lay tenants, thus it is ironic that it has long outlived the parent building.
The earliest part is the north porch, which dates from the 13th century, but the majority of the building dates from a more ambitious phase in 15th century Perpendicular style. The 15th century rebuilding has given us the present cruciform arrangement with small transepts and extra chapels on the north side giving an overall roughly rectangular footprint. These chapels were some of many in the church that served the city's separate guilds in medieval times.
The church has gone through much restoration, most notably the rebuilding of it's spire after it was blown down in a storm in 1665. The east end of the chancel was extended in 1786 (in sympathetic style) and much of the exterior was refaced in the early 19th century in then fashionable Bath stone (which clashes with the original red sandstone).
The church luckily escaped major damage during the Coventry Blitz in 1940, largely thanks to the vigilance of Canon Clitheroe and his team of firewatchers who spent a perilous night on the roof tackling incendaries. The main loss was the Victorian stained glass in the east and west windows, which were replaced with much more fetching glass in the postwar restoration.
The most recent restoration involved the uncovering of the 15th century Doom painting over the chancel arch in 2004. Hidden under blackened varnish since it's rediscovery in the early Victorian period, it has now been revealed to be one of the most complete and important medieval Last Judgement murals in the country. There is further painting contemporary with this on the exquisite nave ceiling, painted a beautiful dusty blue with large kneeling angels flanking coats of arms on every rafter.
There are only a handful of monuments and most of the furnishings date from G.G.Scott's 1850s restoration (as does the magnificent vaulted ceiling high above the crossing) but there are some notable medieval survivals in the rare stone pulpit and the brass eagle lectern, both 15th century, along with a fine set of misericords originating from the former Whitefriars monastery church. Just a few fragments of medieval glass survive in the north west chapel.
The church is happily normally open and welcoming to visitors every day.
For more detail on this church see it's entry in the new Warwickshire Churches website below:-
warwickshirechurches.weebly.com/coventry---holy-trinity.html